European People's Party adopts resolution on Georgia The European People's Party has adopted a resolution on Georgia, which, among other issues, calls for "new elections, the release of political prisoners, and the sanction of Ivanishvili and his related businesses."

The resolution also calls for Cartu Bank to be cut off from the SWIFT and Visa/MasterCard networks.European People's Party:

“1. Reiterates its solidarity with the people of Georgia for their legitimate democratic rights and for a European future and for their fight against Russia’s hybrid warfare; 2. Expresses deep regret that the Georgian Dream party failed to use the historic opportunity granted to Georgia, as a candidate country, to progress on its European integration path, noting that European integration is supported by the majority of the population; 3. Condemns the actions of Georgian Dream, its continued decline into authoritarianism and drift towards the Russian orbit, and demands the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners, the names of which are listed herein; calls on Georgian Dream to immediately halt the execution of all repressive legislation and to put an end to the terror against its own citizens; 4. Condemns the campaign of attacks by the ‘‘Georgian authorities’’ against reputable civil society organisations, independent media and political opponents; 5. Demands an independent, transparent and impartial investigation into police brutality and the excessive use of force against peaceful demonstrators — to hold perpetrators accountable before the law; 6. Calls on Georgian Dream to set a specific date for the conduct of new, free, fair and competitive parliamentary elections, with state institutions, including the Central Election Commission, functioning free of political interference rather than in a condition of state capture; 7. Calls on the European Council to define and enforce a clear and coherent Georgia policy guided by two key principles: (a) cutting the regime’s financial lifelines, including requests from EU Member-State governments to all relevant financial institutions to suspend financial cooperation with the illegitimate government until new parliamentary elections are held; and (b) sanctioning the regime’s ruling, financial and propaganda elites; 8. Calls on the European Commission to review the implementation of the EU63 Georgia Association Agreement in light of the breach of Georgia’s obligations regarding the general principles laid down in Article 2: namely, respect for democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms; 9. Welcomes the Council’s decision to suspend visa-free travel for Georgian diplomats and officials as a first step — and stresses that Georgian Dream is fully responsible for the consequences regarding the possible suspension of the visa69 free regime for Georgian citizens — if the relevant benchmarks and standards on democratic governance and freedoms are not met; 10.Calls on all EU Member States and likeminded international partners to immediately introduce coordinated bilateral personal sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili and against his family members, companies and network of enablers, and to freeze all Ivanishvili’s assets within the EU; calls on the European Council to pursue measures necessary to cut off Ivanishvii’s Kartu Bank from SWIFT and Visa/MasterCard networks and to impose sectoral sanctions targeting businesses that support the regime, particularly those dealing in cooper ores and non-ferrous metals. 11.Calls for the EU and its Member States to impose coordinated bilateral personal sanctions on the officials and political leaders responsible for democratic backsliding, electoral fraud, human rights violations and the persecution of political opponents and activists — and to extend these sanctions to judges passing politically motivated sentences, to law enforcement officials and financial enablers who tacitly or openly support the regime, and to the owners of regime-aligned media outlets; 12. Welcomes the Commission’s decision to cease all budgetary support to the Georgian authorities, and calls on the European Council to work with relevant EU institutions to ensure that the 120 million euros suspended as EU financial assistance to the Georgian government is swiftly restructured and redirected to support civil society and independent media organisations in Georgia; highlights the urgency of the need to support civil society in the light of growing repression and the suspension of activities of the US Agency for International Development (USAID); 13.Calls for the EU and its Member States, as well as national parliaments and interparliamentary institutions, not to recognise the legitimacy of Georgian Dream’s one-party parliament or its appointed president and to recognise President Salome Zourabishvili as the only legitimate representative of the Georgian people.”